Unicorn rainbow sushi: Vegan MoFo

When my niece had Norman the Unicorn visit for her birthday party, I offered to make unicorn sushi.  But my sister had the party food organised.  Which was fine because I get nervous making anything with cold rice for a group of strangers in case of any food poisoning.  But I went ahead and made the sushi just for fun anyway.  I could not resist the idea.  When I made it, I was very relieved I hadn't been making it for a big group as it was challenging enough with Sylvia and another niece.

My niece Stella started school this year, so she had her first party without any family invited.  As we were not able to see her on her birthday either, we arranged to take her and a friend on a playdate before her party so my sister could have some time to prepare the party.  It worked well for both Sylvia and me who are prefer smaller groups.  I took them to the park where they ran about and had lots of fun.

Afterwards I made the unicorn sushi with Sylvia and her cousin Ashy.  I brought most of my gear to my mum's place where we had organised to meet.

I had been fascinated by The Indigo Kitchen's recipe because it used all natural food colours.  The most fun was cooking the purple cabbage to make a purple liquid.  Part of this was mixed with bicarb and it was amazing to see it turn blue.  Unfortunately the vinegar in the sushi seasoning also reacted with the blue and made it a bit less blue.  I was also disappointed with my green colour compared to all the rest.

Sylvia and Ashy had great fun mixing the bowls of coloured rice.  What children don't!  Putting together the unicorn sushi was more of a challenge for them.  It was easier for me because I have made sushi quite a lot and am more used to trying to keep the amount of rice down and packing it tightly.  But even for me it was harder than usual with all the rows of colours. 

Once the sushi was put together both girls decided they weren't too keen on the flavours in the rice.  (Which made me rethink just how good it would be for a kids party.)  I didn't mind mine but preferred the plain white sushi we usually have.  Sadly I found it was a better recipe for instagram than kids.  Which is not to say I would not like to have another go if given the chance.  I suggest you enjoy the photos but try it at your own risk!

More sushi recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Strawberry sushi with chocolate sauce (gf, v)
Sushi stack with carrot, tofu omelet and avocado (gf, v)
Sushi with broccoli, edamame and pickled carrots (gf, v)
Sushi with sticky walnuts and edamame (gf, v)
Sushi with vegan salmon pate (gf, v)
Sushi rice salad (gf, v)

How I made unicorn rainbow sushi
(as inspired by The Indigo Kitchen - I highly recommend checking out this post)

Cook sushi rice.  I usually do 1 cup sushi rice in 1 1/2 cups water, cover, bring to the boil in a small saucepan and then turn heat to lowest possible and simmer 15 minutes and leave another 5 minutes.  I got overambitious and made 3 cups of sushi rice which was a ridiculously large amount and we didn't need that much.

I had 6 bowls into which I put 1 cup each of hot cooked sushi rice.

Into each bowl I put in 2 tbsp sushi seasoning and the following colours

Purple - I boiled about 1-2 cups of chopped cabbage for 10 min in about 1 cup water and used about 1-2 tbsp of the water.
Blue - I mixed 1 tbsp of cabbage water with 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
Green - I tried sieving a couple of handfuls of baby spinach after microwaving to wilted but not green enough and then I used 1-2 tsp of kale powder which was too murky.  Next time maybe spirulina or other green powders
Yellow - 1/4-1/2 tsp turmeric
Orange - 1/4 tsp turmeric and a smudge of tomato paste (or more tomato paste but go easy on it)
Red - 1/2 tsp beetroot powder and a smudge of tomato paste

Place a sheet of nori on a sushi mat (if you have one) and lay lines of each colour rice along the mat.  Roll up and cut into smaller pieces.  I used about 4-5 sheets of nori.

On the Stereo:
Ruby: The Killjoys

This post is part of the Vegan Month of Food (Vegan MoFo) in September 2018.  Go to my Vegan MoFo list for more of my 2018 Vegan MoFo posts.